Chapter 4
——Cough!
Hot liquid splattered across my cheek. The spot burned like fire. Touching it with my finger, I saw thick black blood smeared there.
"Aigoo. Do you even know who you're saying that to right now?"
Her black eyes looked ready to flutter shut at any moment. But the ferocity lurking within was that of a beast poised to pounce on its prey.
"Yes. Heaven of the Church. Roof of the roofless. King of all the world's forsaken—I pay my respects."
"……."
A black-haired woman glared at me in a precarious pose, like a wounded butterfly fluttering its wings. Her name was Jin Hyangwol. The reincarnation of Cheonma. Roughly 700 years ago, she'd been killed by Elizaveta. After reincarnating, she'd built up her strength and challenged Elizaveta again, barely escaping with her life before coming here to die.
"I won't ask how you knew. It would be arrogant to think no one else has endured something as bizarre as this seat."
——Rumble rumble rumble.
With each step—one, two—the ground shook as Cheonma advanced. This was the fabled Cheonma's Overlord Presence.
"Urk, ugh……."
I wanted to marvel at it, but the pressure was no joke. My limbs wouldn't move, my breath came short, and cold sweat poured endlessly. It felt like standing before a starving lion.
……Even poisoned like this, she still had this much power. As expected of Cheonma. Yeah, this was the level my martial arts master needed to be.
"This seat has a few questions for you."
"Your command—!"
"……You can speak normally."
Cheonma coughed lightly, then hacked up a glob of black blood.
I rushed forward and caught her collapsing body.
"……!"
Cheonma shoved me away in panic. I tumbled to the ground with a thud, and she stared at me before muttering curtly.
"Come inside."
Her ear, peeking slightly beside the nape of her neck, was bright red. Worth every bit of that Hollywood action-hero dive.
"Pardon the intrusion."
The interior was even worse than the outside. It barely held the shape of a house; inside, it was a total dump. Sleeping in a park would've been better.
"……I had no choice, being on the run."
Cheonma muttered by way of excuse. Rather than call out the obvious lie, I prostrated myself flat on the filthy floor.
"Have you been well all this time, my heaven?"
At my deferential greeting, Cheonma's eyebrow twitched as she spoke.
"You see me dying and ask if I've been well? If that's mockery—"
"My apologies. I should have given my name first."
Time to get serious. The man I was impersonating from here on was none other than—
"Black Cloud Sword comes to pay his respects to Cheonma."
Cheonma's former lover.
"What? How dare some bastard—"
"The night the Tang family revoked your plaque, you called me aside alone."
"……!"
More precisely, the object of Cheonma's one-sided crush. Black Cloud Sword. Seven hundred years ago, the man who'd saved her then ditched her and run. In the original story, he wasn't even mentioned in a few lines, so I had to imagine and mimic him. One slip-up, and I'd be dead—but I could play off memory gaps as amnesia, and any personality changes as reincarnation side effects.
"Black Cloud Sword… is it really you?"
"Yes."
She threw her arms around me in a tight hug. My shoulder grew damp where her face pressed against it.
"You……! You've… uh, gotten a bit rounder in the face… a lot rounder, actually……."
"Er, um…… yes."
It felt like NTR-ing someone else's captured heroine, but since the runaway trash was the bad guy, I was innocent.
……Marian would think the same, right?
"Of course. Who else but you, Black Cloud Sword, would come find me? You always acted like you knew the future."
"Ahem."
"Coming here like this must mean you're finally ready to tie the knot we couldn't back then."
……Huh?
"Leaping across eras, nations, even gender to claim the love we couldn't have. You bastard. You thought this would make up for standing this seat up that day?"
Wait, things were going off the rails. I'd come to save my martial arts master, not find a wife. Not that I disliked Cheonma, but what meaning was there in love won by deception?
"Th-that is…"
"Shh——."
……Overwhelming, heavy emotions poured over me. Her love was so dense it could crush me. It felt thicker than all the heavens' blessings upon the earth combined.
"……."
I had to refuse. But as she approached slowly, she radiated an irresistible love I couldn't reject.
"I love you, Black Cloud Sword."
In that moment, I went blind. Staring at the intensely passionate sun that was Cheonma with the naked eye without going blind would be the real miracle. So my blindness was perfectly natural. In fact, I yearned for it. A gracious heaven would send rain if its blinded one thirsted, or tear clouds for the hungry. That was the nature of Cheonma's love. It commanded me to love her. So I couldn't resist the hands cupping my cheeks. The cold touch muddled my mind.
"Ahh, finally……."
Her pale lips drew near. As they brushed my nose, her hot breath tickled my lips.
——She pinched my cheek.
"Gah——aaah!"
"Insolent fool. How dare you eye the lips of the woman you stood up? This seat's heart has long gone cold."
"It hurts!!!"
"Challenging this seat? Seven hundred years is too slow."
No, she was the one who pounced! I'm the victim here…! And calling 700 years slow? What, should I time-slip or something?
"Enough. State your business. You only ever sought me out when you had one."
Rubbing my sore cheek from the pinch, I looked up. Tears blurred my vision, so Cheonma's face was indistinct.
In that state, I rummaged in my robes and pulled out a box.
"Here. The Poison Demon Pellet."
"Poison Demon Pellet……!"
Blinking away tears, I saw Cheonma's eyes wide with shock, fixed on me.
"How…?"
"I pulled some strings."
A pill worth an entire Gangnam apartment complex. It neutralized nearly every poison on this land—including the Death Blood Poison festering in Cheonma's body. Elizaveta's passive claw toxin was an upgrade over Mana Dissipation Poison, rotting not just inner energy but blood itself.
"You're welcome."
"Thank you…! As expected, only you!"
Cheonma grabbed my hand. She chomped and swallowed the pill heartily. I could guess her thoughts: once recovered, she'd pick another fight. She couldn't stand losing.
"My heaven, my supreme sovereign."
I couldn't allow that. Not until I'd learned enough martial arts.
"Yes. Speak."
"You're surely planning to avenge your defeat at the Blood Demon's hands."
"Obviously. This time, I will—"
"Long ago, an emperor fought a storm."
Cheonma looked annoyed at the interruption but nodded for me to continue.
"He built a sturdy fortress in the storm's front yard and claimed victory."
"So what, out of nowhere—"
"He won three times. The same way. Against the same foe."
"……Ha! Are you saying this seat will lose to the Blood Demon again?!"
——Boom.
Cheonma's rage tore the air. The house began crumbling. Yet I didn't budge an inch.
"My heaven. The world has changed. Even heaven cannot escape change."
Meeting her glare head-on, I snapped my fingers.
"——Reversal."
I reversed the house's state. Broken to whole, filthy to clean. A brand-new shack was born.
"Cough…!"
And I spat up blood.
"Black Cloud Sword!"
My magic's mana cost varied by target. Virtual data was easy, but manipulating a whole shack took a toll.
"Why…! Why go this far for trash like this…!"
Leaning in Cheonma's arms, I pretended to struggle opening my mouth. Just some blood—my condition was fine. Elizaveta guaranteed it.
"It's not trash…. A place where my sovereign dwells… is a palace to me……."
"Black Cloud Sword!!"
I'd just wanted to lie down from 'fatigue,' but Cheonma misunderstood and hugged me tighter. Again, I trailed off from 'sleepiness.' Not feigned exhaustion—just plain sleepy. My clean conscience still had no burns from Marian.
"My heaven…… I have a small request……."
"Yes, anything!"
"Could you… set aside the name Cheonma… until you regain your former prowess…?"
"……Yes, as much as you like…!"
"One more…. Will you… be my master…?"
"…Very well!"
Jackpot! Acquired S-rank martial arts master! Now I'm a Cheonma Divine Art owner too. No more getting punked by Marian.
……But why am I so sleepy?
……Might as well nap while I'm acting.
Jin Hyangwol gently stroked the hair of Mirror, who lay pillowed on her lap. The cheeky girl grinned broadly, clearly delighted. Annoyed, Hyangwol pinched her tiny nose. The girl's pained groans soothed the burning in her chest a bit.
She admired the peacefully sleeping face in the silence for a long while.
——Click, clack.
She set her down carefully so as not to wake her.
"Been well?"
Time to deal with the uninvited guest.
"Oh? Do you need me to thank you for playing with 'our' little one?"
"……Blood Demon."
"Really, going this far for a pathetic 'granny.' Our Mirror even fainted for you—too kind for her own good. As her 'big sis,' I'm so worried."
"Shameless old—"
Boom!
A red high heel slammed Hyangwol's head into the floor. As her ankle thrashed, the heel dug into her scalp bit by bit.
The moment Cheonma sensed death—
"I'll let it slide today."
The heel lifted from her head.
"……What's this? Your vulgar nature—"
Smack!
The heel grazed her cheek, sending a white tooth flying from her mouth.
"I went easy because you're her tutor. Don't push it. The fee's paid upfront."
"……Black Cloud Sword. So that's where the pill came from."
Elizaveta turned from the muttering Hyangwol, scooping Mirror into her arms.
Watching her wipe every spot Mirror's body had touched Hyangwol's with wet wipes—in perfect fireman's carry form—was absurd.
Click-clack. Elizaveta's crimson hair swayed as she paused at the threshold.
"…Tomorrow's my 'birthday' party. Coming, 'teacher'? It's just your 'big sis' inviting you, so no pressure."
Hyangwol narrowed her eyes, trying to read the scheme.
"……I will."
That triumphant, victor-like face grated. Just struggling to preserve Cheonma's pride. Nothing more. The woman blinded by love had died 700 years ago.
……Yes, the request. To set aside the name Cheonma. A favor for an old tie, to lay a dead love to rest.
"Hehe. Good choice. 9 a.m. Central Park yacht."
"……Understood."
After Elizaveta left, Hyangwol sat cross-legged. She didn't circulate energy—fear of qi deviation—but—
——Crunch.
The fear of loss again overpowered qi deviation.
"……."
At dawn, the one emerging from the shack was no longer Hyangwol.
It was Cheonma.